This is of interest as we are off to Tasmania for a holiday next month.
From Sydney Morning Herald 2.3.05

The Tasmanian Government has appealed to a Victorian man, who claims to have photographs of a live Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, to make them available for forensic examination.

The man's brother - described only as a tourist visiting from Germany - reportedly stumbled across the animal, presumed extinct for almost 70 years, earlier this year in the Tasmanian wilderness. The man said his brother had used a digital camera to snap two pictures showing the animal's distinctive striped back.

Both photographs were briefly shown last week to the director of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Bill Bleathman, and a wildlife biologist with the state's Department of Primary Industries, Nick Mooney, who agreed the fuzzy images probably did show a Tasmanian tiger.

But whether the pictures were real or forgeries they could not say.

I would totally love to see a tazzie tiger. Way cool looking animal;at least from the old fuzzy B/W picture of the last one alive in captivity before it died. What a bunch of idiots humans were in the past. Killing off really cool animals, just because.

Ellen White saw Tasmanian tigers (referred to as the "tiger cat") when she lived in Tasmania in the 1890's.

(quote)
Ellen G. White Volume 4 The Australian Years 1891-1900, page 346, paragraph 3
Chapter Title: The First Half of 1898
Of the wild animals on the place, we cannot speak so
definitely. There is a small family of large kangaroos, which

show themselves occasionally. The wallabies are quite numerous,

although many have recently been shot. Thus far they have

not done serious injury to our crops. The native bears are getting

scarce. We seldom hear their cry. Opossums can be heard any

night, although they have been thinned out by the hunters.

Snakes are much talked about, but rarely seen. Each year we see

less and less of them. Occasionally a tiger cat makes a raid on our

fowls. Then we trap him, and he suffers the death penalty for his

fowl murders. Flying foxes have done us no harm this year. Of

magpies, there are plenty. The laughing jackasses, though not

numerous, are very sociable. Groups of cockatoos and parrots

are occasionally seen. The bell bird and the whip bird can be

heard every day.

(end quote)

My husband found another quote, which I cannot get my hands on at the moment, describing members of Mrs White's household having shot a Tasmanian tiger who was attacking the chickens.

aldona

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The native bears are getting scarce

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Koalas?

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The laughing jackasses

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I'm not going to say what I first thought, but is this a bird?

You've got it. The "native bears" refers to koalas. A "laughing jackass" is an early Aussie name for the kookaburra - a bird in the same family as a kingfisher, with a mottled brown coloring, a long straight bill and an unorgettable "laughing" call. Once heard - never forgotten.

A few years ago we had a guest speaker from South Africa at Camp meeting in Melbourne and halfway through his Friday night sermon he was interrupted by a kookaburra laughing long and loud just outside the tent - he was so startled, he nearly fell off the stage, and asked whether it was someone/something possessed!

I'll see if I can find some pictures.

aldona

Can you find some pictures of this "Tasmanian tigers"? I recently saw a kookaburra ...pretty white bird...

I need to leave for work Neil, if no one has found any by this evening I will post one for you.

[]http://romeo.pembrokesc.vic.edu.au/home/tiger/Photo_Gallery/zoo_image.jpg[/] []http://romeo.pembrokesc.vic.edu.au/home/tiger/Photo_Gallery/gape.jpg[/] []http://romeo.pembrokesc.vic.edu.au/home/tiger/Photo_Gallery/tiger.gif[/]

Welcome to Pembroke Secondary College's web site following Murray McAllister's expeditions into the Eastern part of Victoria in search of living specimens of the Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine. In the months to come we will bring you reports on Murray's 22 expeditions and news of plans for his next journey searching for the Tasmanian Tiger. We will also bring you information on the Thylacine as well as ideas for class activities.
http://romeo.pembrokesc.vic.edu.au/home/tiger/welcome.html

[]http://romeo.pembrokesc.vic.edu.au/home/tiger/images/closeup.jpg[/]
This is the snapshot that we took of an animal in January 1999. We tracked through the scrub land for almost 100 metres and I was surprised when it popped out approximately 10 metres to my right. Look closely at the hind quarters of the animal and the dark shaded region. This I firmly believe, is the formation of the animals stripes. I have no doubt that this was a thylacine but the photograph unfortunately is not conclusive enough.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dogrunning.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dogrunning.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dogrunning.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dogrunning.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dogrunning.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dogrunning.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dogrunning.gif" alt="" />

Good on you Amelia, you have the award again. Thanks.